Generally, the developmental trend in personal communication technology is toward the use of limited input devices such as Internet phones, IMT-2000 phones, PDAs (personal digital assistants), cellular phones, and the like.
Some limited input devices are equipped with voice communication services and various data transmission services such as SMS/LMS/MMS (short/long/multi message services). Often data transmission is more convenient and economical than voice communication. This has caused an increase in popularity of data transmission services such as those noted above.
Due to their nature and design, limited input devices are not equipped with unique data entry keys for all alphanumeric characters and symbol characters that PC's and other communication devices are equipped with. To address this problem, data entry keys on limited input devices are associated with multiple data entry modes. Users can enter alphanumeric characters when the device is in alphanumeric mode, and symbolic characters when in symbolic mode. By allowing the user to switch modes when desired, limited input devices can provide users with a full set of alphanumeric and symbolic characters despite having a limited set of data entry keys.
Many limited input devices allow the character data to be edited. A point of entry also known as a curser can be positioned in an appropriate area in an edit window, so that characters can be erased, or new characters can be added. When adding characters, if the device is not in the proper input mode, the user must first shift the data entry keys into the appropriate input mode and then enter the desired data.
Shifting the data entry keys into the appropriate mode is an additional step the user must manually complete. This additional step slows the editing process and is an inconvenience that users of limited input devices must endure to edit a message that includes a mixture of alphanumeric and symbolic data.
Systems and methods are needed that can overcome the above-noted problems.